Should we punish children for being slow leaner's in schools?

This is an answer from my 13yr old;"if you punish slow working children,then they are still learning what you want them to,just more slowly-they are going to go thru life thinking punishment is the norm,and will not learn anything except punishment,from school to the workplace,to the grave,so the cycle goes on,passed down thru the generations."<From dad,children should be "encouraged" in school,not "punished",this is the next generation here-are we creating a master race-as someone once wanted to do long ago??Let them work at their own speed&sod the governments targets&the suffering in education,life's too short for us now,what's it going to be like for our kids in the years to come!?>

No everyone is different and sometimes the smartest people are slower than others. There could be a variety of reasons why though such as 1. The school doesn't have enough resources to test for ADD or dyslexia or any other learning disabilities. 2. The student might have personal trauma in their life and not know how to deal with it. 3. They might just be lazy and give up easily due to a low self esteem. and the list goes on.. These are not excuses just different circumstances.

I teach students with special needs....what you're proposing sets back special education about fifty years....How can we say it is the child's fault, exclusive of teacher and parent responsibilities? Where do we draw the line? Yes, I believe students need to be held accountable for their learning, but I don't think children should be punished for not learning in the same way as the general population. To qualify as having a learning disability, one must have an IQ within the average range, but academic achievement (demonstrated by standardized tests) falling below expectation. This discrepancy is set by individual states, and sometimes districts. I have worked with students who are exceptionally bright verbally, but have tremendous difficulty writing. If teachers make very minor accomodations, without modifying curriculum, these students can be successful. Those who are not lucky to have adult advocates or who haven't learned to speak up for themselves may fall behind because they cannot demonstrate what they know. Should they be punished so readily? Too often they suffer a poor self-image, relentless teasing from peers, and frustration with academic tasks. Must we further punish them???? By the way, we already punish students who fail...they have to retake the class or do summer school to make up the credit.

Should we punish the blind for not being able to read normal books?

Should we punish the deaf for not listening to the teacher?

Should we punish the crippled for not running in gym class?

If a student has a disability, we can't punish him or her. However we should punish parents that allow students to miss more than 25 days of school without a valid medical reason.

Parents should not be able to take students for extended vacations that put them behind other students.

Here's an answer...

If your pace of learning and ability to understand are entirely in your control, I am assuming that you have an advanced degree in every subject and skill known to mankind. No? Why, you lazy bones!!! We must punish you immediately for not knowing everything that is available to know!

Sound unreasonable? Why? Is it that we all learn at our own ability level and pacing? Do you want to be punished for YOUR failure to learn more than you already have?

Might as well punish people for not growing taller.

Slow learners are NOT to blame for how fast they learn.

it is not the choice of the student to be not as smart as the rest, he/she may be trying as hard as she/he can but may jsut be a very slow learner. do not punish somebody for giving good efforts